In the field of hand-held plastic containers for storing and dispensing particulate matter, particularly foodstuffs or seasonings such as those displayed and sold in supermarkets, designers have desired to create containers that are easily stackable, having several openings, particularly openings for both shaking and spooning that have flaps to seal these openings, yet are inexpensive to manufacture in large quantities and are inexpensive to assemble.
These containers typically have a diameter of between 20 and 150 millimeters and are especially suitable for cooks who can spoon foodstuffs such as spices from a first opening and can shake the same foodstuffs from a second set of openings. Typically, the matter is spooned from the first opening and deposited into a bowl or other container for mixing food. The spooning opening is adapted to receive any one of a variety of common household spoons used for measuring foodstuffs. A second opening (or more accurately, several openings) on a second side of the cover are provided to allow the foodstuffs to be shaken out of the container. Typically, the shaker side of the container cover is used when the foodstuffs are shaken directly into food that is being served, or food that is being seasoned "to taste" while it is cooking.
Manufacturers of these products must balance several conflicting goals. First, the container must seal tightly to prevent the foodstuffs from oxidizing, to prevent their flavors from evaporating and to prevent them from picking up any of the flavors of the adjacent foods. Second, the container must be inexpensive to manufacture, since the cost of the foodstuffs in the container is typically quite small. Third, the container must similarly be inexpensive to fill and assemble. Fourth, the container must easily and reliably stack on supermarket shelves to a typical height of three to five containers, since supermarket shelves are typically spaced several inches apart, and shelf space is at a premium.
Manufacturers have had mixed results with their designs. In a typical recent example in the prior art, a cover is provided that has two flaps, one flap having a skirt extending down from its lower surface to seal a spooning opening, and another flap having three skirts extending down from its lower surface to seal three shaker openings. The skirts extend at right angles from the lower surface of their respective flaps and are sized to snap fit within their respective openings to secure their respective flaps in a closed position. A drawback of this design is that the flaps are formed separately from the rest of the cover and thus a separate joining process is required. In an alternative prior art design, a two-flap cover having one spooning opening and one shaker opening, avoids the thick skirts of the previous example, and provides slightly rounded bumps on the inner surface of the shaker flap that seal against the corresponding shaker openings. A drawback to this design is the limited sealing ability of the cover with bumps since the bumps do not lock into the holes they cover.
What is needed, therefore, is an improved food products container having a cover formed integrally with a plurality of flaps that provides improved sealing. It is an object of this invention to provide such a cover.